Wildland Recreation

Ecology and Management

William E. Hammitt, David N. Cole, Christopher A. Monz

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118396933
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Scienze biologiche
• Subtopic: Biologia

WILDLAND RECREATION

THE AUTHORITATIVE GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN WILDLANDS

This third edition provides an updated and thorough examination of the ecological impacts of recreational use on wildlands and the best management practices to employ in places where recreation and preservation of natural conditions are important – and often conflicting – objectives.

Covering the latest research, this edition provides detailed information about the environmental changes that result from recreational use. It describes spatial patterns of impact and trends over time, and then explores the factors that determine the magnitude of impact, including the amount of use, the type and behavior of use, and the environmental durability. Numerous examples, drawn from parks and recreation areas around the world, give readers an insight into why certain areas are more heavily damaged than others, and demonstrate the techniques available to mitigate damage.

The book incorporates both the first-hand experience of the authors and an exhaustive review of the world's literature on the subject. Boxes provide quick access to important material, and further resources are referenced in an extensive bibliography. Essential reading for all park and protected area management professionals, this book is also a useful textbook for upper division undergraduate and graduate students on recreation ecology and recreation management courses.

Part I
INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1
WILDLAND RECREATION AND RESOURCE IMPACTS

Recreational use of wildland areas has increased dramatically during the past half century. Along with this increase in recreational use have come human disturbance and degradation to the conditions of wildland areas. Examined in this book are the nature and degree of these disturbances and ways in which they can be managed. First, we need to define wildland recreation and recreation resource impacts. Then, we must consider the importance of recreational-ecological impacts and the role of the wildland recreation manager in balancing use and preservation of wildland areas.

1.1 WHAT IS WILDLAND RECREATION?

Although most types of recreation are fun and non-work-oriented, their goals and benefits are usually diverse. The notions of recreation as constructive, rewarding, and restorative are at least as important as the notion of recreation as fun (Brockman and Merriam 1973).

More specifically, the term recreation (Kelly 1996, p. 25):

stems from the Latin recreatio, which refers to restoration or recovery. The term implies the renewal of energy and mental alertness or the restoration of ability to function. Recreation contains the concept of restoration of wholeness of mind, spirit, and body. It presupposes some other activity that depletes, tires, or deteriorates that wholeness.

This restorative definition of recreation argues that recovery is involved, where an ability to function is restored, involving the mind and body, and necessitates some other process that leads to fatiguing or deterioration within humans that prevents functioning as desired (see Box 1.1 for an explanation). For our purposes, recreation is defined as activities that offer a contrast to work-related activities and that offer the possibility of constructive, restorative, and pleasurable benefits.

Box 1.1 Recreation: a restorative process.

To demonstrate the restorative process of recreation, the function of a pencil will be used. A wooden pencil, when sharpened, fully functions to aid in the writing of words on a piece of paper. But should one write for an extended period of time, wearing the lead down until it no longer extends from the end of the pencil, the pencil can no longer function as it did in its original state. However, the worn-down pencil can be easily restored to its original condition by simply sharpening the pencil. In this scenario, the pencil was not re-created; it was simply restored. Now, if one were to take a hammer and smash the pencil, both wood and lead, into splinters and dust, the pencil would need to be re-created anew before it could function in its original state as a writing device. As with the pencil demonstration, we are seldom involved in recreation with the process of creating as new something that has been destroyed and lost, but rather, we are involved in the recovery and restoration of something that is worn out and fatigued so that it is once again in a wholesome functioning condition.

Even with Kelly’s restorative definition of recreation and the pencil demonstration, we are still without a psychological and physiological foundation for how the fatigue, recovery, and restoration processes occur. Fortunately, attention restoration theory (ART) provides an explanation for both the fatigue and recovery/restoration processes (Kaplan 1995).

The fatiguing process concerns two types of mental attention states utilized by humans while processing information and functioning in most environmental settings. The first type of attention is involuntary, which requires little effort in terms of remaining focused on the environmental information to be processed. It is employed when the stimuli, in terms of both content and process, are interesting, involving, and automatically hold our mental alertness and focus. As a result, involuntary attention is a pleasurable mode of environmental information processing and functioning, and comes at no cost to humans.

Unfortunately, not all social and work environmental stimuli are interesting and involving in terms of information processing and functioning. In fact, the majority of our everyday existence may find us in environmental settings where the stimuli we must deal with are not the most interesting and involving, yet must be processed and acted upon. In these situations, humans must call upon directed attention. This involves a forced and burdensome form of focused attention that requires great effort to remain with the information and task functioning at hand. The stimuli that must be dealt with may be mentally demanding and of little interest in terms of desired mental involvement. While people seem to be quite efficient at using directed attention, there is a mental fatiguing cost and it can only be employed efficiently for a limited period. As the mind (and perhaps the body) tires from the forced attention required, it wanders to more appealing stimuli, thereby decreasing the efficiency of directed attention. When this occurs, a period is necessary to allow recovery from mental fatigue and restoration of the ability to use directed attention once again as necessary.

The restorative process therefore involves recovery from the cost and pain associated with directed attention and mental fatigue. Kaplan (1995) theorizes that the restorative process involves the recovery of a worn-out inhibitor control mechanism that is employed by humans during directed attention to ward off or inhibit more appealing stimuli from dominating our attention. The means by which the inhibitor control mechanism is restored is to not use it; to use no-cost involuntary attention instead of the costly directed attention. How is this done? By seeking environmental settings where the dominant form of information processing and functioning is involuntary attention. Such environments and experiences are restorative. Restorative environments and experiences provide for states of involuntary attention, where the inhibitor control can recover and we restore the ability once again to use directed attention when needed (Kaplan 1995). The availability of restorative environments, for which most outdoor and wildland recreation areas qualify, are essential for the recreation restorative experience (Hammitt 2005).

This broad definition provides room for a tremendous variety of activities. We are restricting ourselves here to recreational activities conducted outdoors in wildland areas that are dependent on the natural resources of these areas (Fig. 1.1). In wildland recreation the importance of the environment or setting for activities is greater than in developed recreation situations. Moreover, these wildland settings are largely natural, and management strives to maintain a natural appearance. Facility development is limited in both areal extent and function. Facilities in wildland areas are limited to small sites, if present at all, and are more likely to enhance visitor safety and resource protection than visitor comfort and convenience (Fig. 1.2). Accessibility is more difficult with wildland recreation. Distances from urban populations are often greater. Roads, if they are present at all, tend to be of a low standard and less frequently maintained. Where absent, trails may or may not be provided. Finally, use tends to be dispersed, creating a social environment with less emphasis on certain types of social interaction. Interaction takes place in smaller groups, with less interparty contact.

Fig. 1.1 Recreational activities in wildland areas are greatly dependent on the natural resources of these areas.

(Source: W. E. Hammitt.)

Fig. 1.2 Recreational facilities in wildland areas are limited in both areal extent and function, and are more likely to enhance visitor safety and resource protection than visitor convenience.

(Source: W. E. Hammitt.)

In the US, most wildland recreation takes place on public lands, such as those managed by the Forest Service, National Park Service, other federal agencies, or state park departments. The same is true in most other countries. These lands may or may not be specifically designated for recreational use. For example, trails, campgrounds, and other visitor use areas are designated and specifically managed for visitor enjoyment on National Park Service lands, whereas adjacent and intervening Forest Service land permits recreational use but may emphasize other uses, such as timber production. Some lands emphasize nature protection or biodiversity conservation but allow compatible recreation use. Similarly, wildland recreation use also occurs on private lands not specifically designated recreation areas. However, most wildland recreation occurs on public lands, and most of the management responsibility falls on public agencies. Often, few services may be provided and users are expected to be self-reliant, managing their own use of the resource. This is one aspect that differentiates wildland recreation from ecotourism (see Box 1.2 for a comparison).

Box 1.2 Wildland recreation versus ecotourism

An interesting topic for debate is the difference, if indeed there is any, between outdoor recreation and tourism, and, more specifically, between wildland recreation and ecotourism. Many of my colleagues argue that the fields have merged. While our book deals with the resource impacts of wildland recreation, a similar book published in 2013 deals with the ecological impacts of ecotourism (Newsome, Moore, and Dowling 2013). In fact, one of the co-authors of our book has jointly written one of the chapters in the ecotourism book. Some would even argue that the traditional fields of outdoor recreation and wildland recreation no longer exist – that all nature-based recreationists are “customers,” who want and are willing to pay for services, and have little desire to be self-reliant in the outdoors. However, while the fields have certainly merged as society has become more affluent, there are still several distinctions to be made among many outdoor activities.

For example, consider a man who throws his beagle in the back of his pick-up...